PHILOSOPHY AS A WAY OF LIFE

A former Collège de France Professor of the History of Hellenist and Roman Thought, Pierre Hadot (1922-2010) fully reappraises what it means to engage in philosophy. "In Antiquity", he writes, for example, "The philosopher regards himself as a philosopher, not because he develops a philosophical discourse, but because he lives philosophically". (p 27) Not necessarily a professor or writer, etymologically, "A philo-sopher is in love with wisdom". (p 57)

Hadot's prose is clear, eloquent and persuasive. Written in four parts comprising eleven chapters, it demonstrates his prodigious knowledge, not only as historian but as a genuine wisdom-lover, a rigorous thinker who 'professes' his subject by living it, writing with deep, yet entirely self-effacing, conviction. This is what makes his work so valuable, accessible and exciting.

Readers like me, with regrettably threadbare knowledge of ancient Greek philosophy, will be surprised and delighted to discover how relevant are its fundamental messages today. People throughout the world are currently enduring a deadly pandemic during an already worrying period of climate change, eco-destruction, increasing natural disasters, widespread conflict, and many other causes of human suffering. Elsewhere I have suggested, "Wisdom is the best remedy for all the complex inter-related ills of humankind", and it is satisfying to have one's ideas convincingly validated by such time-honoured authorities. For them, according to Hadot, the essence of wisdom - self-transformation - is not just the best but the only way forward when confronting persistent adversity. Referring to Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic and Epicurean branches of Hellenism, he writes, "All schools believed in the freedom of the will, thanks to which man has the possibility to modify, improve, and realize himself." (p102) Self-improvement has likewise today become, then, the inescapable duty of every citizen.

The book's first two parts (Method and Spiritual Exercises) reveal how, with different emphases, these schools taught people to grow in wisdom, mainly through 'spiritual exercises'. Hadot's defends the term as follows, "These exercises are the result, not merely of thought, but of the individual's entire psychism... By means of them, the individual raises himself up to the life of the objective Spirit; that is to say, he re-places himself within the perspective of the Whole". (pp 81-2) Later, he adds, "All spiritual exercises are, fundamentally, a return to the self, in which the self is liberated from the state of alienation into which it has been plunged by worries, passions and desires". (p 103) There are strong reminders for me here of Christian writer, Thomas Merton, who wrote, for example, "He who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world, without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity, and capacity to love, will not have anything to give others".

So, what are spiritual exercises? Explaining that, "They all consist, above all, of self-control and meditation" (p 59), Hadot gives us a list: research, scrupulous investigation (skepsis), reading, listening, attention, self-mastery, and 'indifference to indifferent things'. 'Meditation', he clarifies, is, "The exercise of reason... a rational, imaginative, or intuitive exercise that can take extremely varied forms"; a definition which clearly surpasses sterile intellectualisation, describing an activity similar to what Merton, in a truly memorable book, refers to as 'contemplation'.

Central to all schools are 'meditation upon death' and, 'attentive concentration on the present moment'. Hadot says such deliberate attention (prosoche) is strongly associated with freedom from the passions; i.e. attachments and aversions provoking strong emotions; "Which are always caused by the past or the future - two areas which do not depend on us". (p 84-5) This is 'indifference to indifferent things'; psychological detachment from past burdens and future anxieties, over which we can have little control. Furthermore, such attentiveness, "Allows us to accede to cosmic consciousness, by making us attentive to the infinite value of each instant, and causing us to accept each moment of existence from the viewpoint of the universal law of the cosmos". (p 85)

In Chapter 4, Hadot moves to the Christianity of the Middle Ages, describing Loyola's spiritual exercises as deeply rooted in those of his Greek forbears, while prosoche (attention to oneself, implying self-mastery) becomes the fundamental attitude of the monk. But he warns against exaggerating the similarities. For Christians, the birth, teachings, miracles, death and resurrection of Christ have changed everything. Already declining towards academic obscurity, philosophy is being suppressed by theology.

In Part 3 (Figures) the philosophical 'figure' is distinguished from the historical person in chapters on both Socrates and Marcus Aurelius. Socrates - both from Plato's Symposium, and as perceived by Kierkegaard and Nietzsche ("Those two great Socratics") - represents, "The portrait of a mediator between the transcendent ideal of wisdom and concrete human reality". (p 147) Marcus Aurelius is explained with helpful reference to his Stoic contemporary Epictetus, appearing rather more sympathetic than usually considered. Hadot quotes: "We must love other people with all out hearts, for rational beings are not only parts of the same whole, but limbs of the same body". (p 198)

In the brief Chapter 7, called Reflections on the Idea of the "Cultivation of the Self", using contrasting Stoic and Epicurean themes, Hadot respectfully criticises the work of Michel Foucault who, he says, did not sufficiently insist on people seeking a radical transformation of perspective through appreciation of a universalist, cosmic dimension to being-in-the-world.

Part 4 (Themes) begins with a chapter on Goethe, appraised through Hellenist philosophy emphasizing 'The Value of the Present Instant'. With references to a mystical dimension of Stoicism, to the Epicurean notion that, "The secret of joy and serenity is to live each instant as if it were the last, but also the first" (p 225), to Horace's dictum, "Carpe diem", to Seneca, and once more to Nietzsche, Hadot brilliantly brings Goethe to life here as an inspired and inspiring teacher of wisdom.

In the remaining chapters; The View from Above, The Sage and the World, and, Philosophy as a Way of Life; with reference to numerous ancient and more recent philosophical writings; including from artists, Cézanne and Klee, and poet Rilke; Hadot brings things even more neatly together, skilfully weaving ancient Greek wisdom into the underlying fabric of contemporary culture. Philosophy, he summarizes, is, "An exercise consisting in learning to regard both society, and the individuals who comprise it, from the point of view of universality". (p 242)

Many more quotations from this splendid volume would surely resonate powerfully with Network members but, in conclusion, space allows only two. Firstly, "In order to recognize wisdom, we must, so to speak, go into training for wisdom". (p 261) Secondly, regarding genuine wisdom-seekers, "To be sure, there is only a small number of such people; they are like embers of wisdom kept smouldering in our cities, so that virtue may not altogether be snuffed out and disappear from our race. But if only people everywhere felt the same way... and became lovers of wisdom... then our cities would be brimful of happiness". (pp 264-5)

These pertinent observations are equally echoed by Thomas Merton. They also, I mention humbly, support much of my own work, especially in recommending a regular routine of updated 'wisdom practices'. Hadot's lucid book testifies repeatedly to the universality, supremacy, and indispensability of wisdom, and I cannot recommend it more highly.